Nope. Children are not able to provide informed consent and thus cannot enter into contracts to sell their labor. Beyond that, there is a wealth of data demonstrating negative outcomes related to child labor, including educational underperformance, increased incidence of poverty, abuse, and crime, as well as the potential of workplace injuries to cause permanent developmental impairment.

There is no such thing as ethical child labor.

That is allowed. Kids are allowed to do small jobs outside school hours, paper rounds, dog walking, babysitting, all fine jobs for teens.

A full time job that denies them an education is exploitative.

Labor: No. Consent doesn't matter.

Doing jobs / working as a kid is perfectly alright if it contributes to their education, teaches them skills for life or helps them learn how to become an independent individual. But within limits. They also need time to grow, have fun and go to school.

Other than that, children will consensually work if the alternative is seeing their little sister starve. Help contribute to the family income or happily skip school if able. Under a certain age, children are regarded as not very wise, unable to consent and easily manipulable. For example by cruel or stupid parents.

That is why it needs to be banned to a certain (and arguable) age. Instead, the state/society needs to provide for poor children, and protect them. Sometimes even from their parents and themselves. Until they're grown enough to make their own decisions.

Consent aside, it will never be acceptable in a place where there's free education, since educating a child is almost guaranteed to increase their quality of life and production in society

We can't even trust employers to not steal wages, sexually harass, or be decent humans to adult workers. There's no way a literal child should be expected to hold their own in an employee/employer relationship.

We have decided as a nation that children under a certain age are incapable of consenting to anything.

Consentually...... Sounds like a great way for a corporation to groom individuals into people who accept less than a liveable wage.

I don't see anything that helps capitalism being done "responsibly". It's all done in the pursuit of all the money, and as soon as possible. Only rule is don't break laws that have consequences higher than the profits gained.

Children should be children. They shouldn't need to earn an income. Education and fun should be a priority. Have the rest of their lives to be miserable

I moved out at 14, so I'm gonna go with yes, but I'll caveat that I got a pretty heavy bias on the issue :)

I will say that parental consent is a shit answer. The kids capable of working consensually likely won't need it.

What do you have in mind?

Children are stupid and can't consent. They should focus on education instead of work.

Yes, when it's the product of apprenticeship, where there is a clear gain, without loss in other areas of education. As to the amount of time it takes from childhood, the matter is less clear, as it is within societies that permit cram schools. But if you allow one, then you can allow the other.

Stop trying to turn lemmy into reddit

Child should get education and not work. The government should support financially families so kids and student don't need to work

I suppose I'd call one form of that "household chores"

It was historically and still is in some places, today.